A somewhat intelligent outlook on the current entertainment media by a female adolescent.

Thursday, April 19, 2012

Odd Couples = BACK

Quick Update: Everyone's all over the place in journalism class, so catch-up on blog I shall. "O" for "Odd Couples", as in this post was supposed to happen Tuesday.

Song Stuck In My Head: None right now. Trying to keep it that way.

Since the beginning of time, there has been one dynamic that has almost meant comedy gold, even dramatic gold. The Odd Couple. It’s one we’ve seen less of, but suddenly they’re all over the place whether we like it or not.

Perhaps the best of the best? 21 Jump Street’s recent success (according to my school paper, it was also voted movie of the year, haha) has a lot to thank its two many characters. At first Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum play the classic geek and jock pair (respectively) until they return to high school as narcs.

Suddenly Jonah’s the popular kid, and Channing (okay, why does it feel weird saying just his first name?) is the nerdy one. Both play the dual parts well, and have their share of clashes and bonding.

Another blockbuster introduced a half-romantic odd couple. Of course you know who I’m talking about? Katniss and Peeta! It’s no wonder people freak out over the two, completely different characters who hover between . Katniss’s strategic and calculated way of thinking, and overall badassery, is the perfect balance to Peeta’s emotional vulnerability and brash personality.

Meanwhile, in TV Land (no, not the network) we have new shows springing up with the dynamic. Most infamously, the ABC show, “The B*tch in Apartment 23”, which I actually watched the first episode of and didn’t think was too shabby.

Though the B*tch herself, Krysten Ritter as Cloe, is so outrageously unashamed and free of rules that anybody could be her opposite, Dreama Walker’s June handles the dynamic pretty well. She’s naïve and a bit squeaky clean here and there. Cloe walks around her apartment naked and deals drugs.

Another new show, Best Friends Forever, takes on a odd trio, focusing on a situation where a geeky and happy boyfriend and girlfriend have their relationship tested by the emergence of a third wheel, the “best friend” Jessica and her melodramatic antics after a heavy break-up. The show isn’t horrible, but we do all know NBC is struggling to keep shows nowadays.

Even music has its share of mix-ups. Collaborations are always popular, but now it seems we can’t have a song without a “ft. (name of random artist” at the end. One song that has really gained from this? The song I’ve blogged about too much already - Gotye’s “Somebody that I Used to Know”.

The Australia native brought in a New Zealand Indie singer, smooth-voiced Kimbra. While they both sing with the air of broken hearts, their voices and style couldn’t be more different. Kimbra has the soft, delicateness and voice of a pop darling, and channels the voice of an early Katy Perry while singing like Paramore’s Hayley Williams and maybe Florence of Florence + the Machine mixed together. Meanwhile, Gotye is simple and even dark at times, and approaches his songs with a heavy, but catchy, level of emotion. The feather-soft Kimbra and somber, pained Gotye make the song, well, addicting.

Some pairings are just random though. One song that has garnered a lot of raised eyebrows? Coldplay and Rihanna, in the song, “Princess of China". At first, all you can think is “Whoa…wait…everyone’s favorite mainstream rock band and the beat-heavy Columbian pop singer who has songs called S&M?”

That goes away once you hear it though. It's not Coldplay that gives up their sound, not really. Instead, Rihanna, who's had an album called "Good Girl Gone Bad", seems to return to "Good Girl", if only for a little while. The song doesn't have the word 'princess' in the title for nothing. It has a fairy-tale, pop vibe to it but still sounds ethereal and rock, thanks to Coldplay. A random mix, sure, but a good one!

What are some of the odd couples you’ve been seeing lately that have your attention? Or…what is your favorite odd couple of all time? (And yes, if you want to, you can say THE Odd Couple.)

1 comment:

I'm way past the teen years, and didn't even know most of these shows, but your commentary was well written! I'm a Jack Klugman fan, and loved the TV odd couple. I'm trying to visit all the A-Z Challenge Blogs this month. My alphabet is at myqualityday.blogspot.com

ABOUT SSF

Writer/blogger person, semiprofessional teenager, pop culture junkie, and gum chewer. Her fangirl-dom (-ness? -ity?) began in the elementary school days, when she had every Pokemon merchandise and carried around a Powderpuff Girls doll when others made up imaginary friends. Nowadays, she’s into more…sophisticated stuff. Okay not too sophisticated. Whether her mad skills, like writing over the word limit or knowing everything about every Harry Potter book or fangirling at the speed of light, will come in handy…remains to be seen.

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SSF’s favorite band is Australian, her favorite singer is Canadian, and favorite childhood band was British (no, not Beatles, surprisingly). Yet SSF is supposedly just Arizonian (or so the birth certificate says).

SSF once received a tweet from screenwriter Diablo Cody (Juno, Jennifer’s Body, Young Adult). On 9/20/10 to be exact. It. Was. AWESOME.

SSF has only read the first two chapters of 50 Shades of Grey. She says it’s much like being a kid allowed to watch the first two scenes of a R-rated movie - then being told to go to bed right as the gore/naughty stuff begins.

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